Sheriff: ID theft ring pilfered files at NU physicians’ group

They boasted of their purchases in Facebook photos that showed them flashing shiny jewelry while eating at Ruth’s Chris Steakhouse in their brand-name outfits — the tags still attached, authorities said.

In what Cook County Sheriff Tom Dart described as a “sophisticated identity-theft ring,” a janitor stole data from as many as 250 patient files at a Northwestern University physicians’ group and, with the help of her two sisters and friends, used the personal information to charge more than $300,000 in jewelry, furniture, appliances and electronics. They sold the goods to friends and relatives, pocketing the profits, the charges alleged.

Seven suspects have been arrested, while three others, including janitor Tijuana Leonard, are wanted on felony warrants, according to the sheriff’s office.

“They had it down to a science,” Dart said. “They performed it like a job.”

While working the night shift for Millard Cleaning Service, Leonard, 33, of Chicago, stole personal information from patient files in the Northwestern Medical Faculty Foundation’s offices and passed it along to others, Dart said.